


Comfort

by bluemermaid



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Knockturn Alley, Post-War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 00:44:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3402230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluemermaid/pseuds/bluemermaid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Astoria makes her way into the dark, to find her love and comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> Written for femmefest 2013.

Astoria clutched her robes tighter to her body as she slipped around the corner into Knockturn Alley. She wasn't supposed to be in this part of town, but what Daphne never knew wouldn't hurt her. Besides, Astoria was tired of being treated like a child; she was an adult now, and she could decide what was best for herself.

Still, she couldn't help but feel apprehensive as she picked her way down the dark, twisted alleyway, stepping carefully so as to keep her nice shoes from getting dirty. It was interesting how stereotypes were so often self-fulfilling prophesies: the so-called "shady" sectors of Wizarding society were shunted aside into darkness, and in darkness they became as dark as they were feared to be. But Astoria had a feeling that, if simply given the chance to venture into the light, these shops and characters would not be quite so threatening.

And so it was as she placed her hand upon the weathered door of an Apothecary and made her way into the shop. The shelves were bare and dusty; spiders made their home there by the multitudes, and Astoria got the impression they had been making themselves comfortable for quite some time. The light was dim inside, the cramped room lit by a single bulb, swaying slightly above Astoria's head as she rang the rusted bell on the counter. She waited.

Millicent emerged from the back room with her robes tattered and her hair a frightening mess. She was scarred and scowling, and yet she was a welcome sight to Astoria, who smiled there in the musty dark shop, and bowed her head. "Good afternoon, Millie," said Astoria, trembling with anticipation.

"I've told you not to call me that," Millicent replied. Her voice was harsh, but her gaze betrayed her, sweeping over Astoria with something with reverence. "I'm Millicent, and that's all I am." Astoria nodded eagerly, then hesitated, her fingers twisting in her delicate silk robes. "Well?" Millicent barked eventually, raising her eyebrows. "Are you coming or aren't you?"

"Oh, yes," Astoria gasped, rushing forward, and practically leaping over the counter in her urgency. Millicent frowned and shook her head to see such excitement, but Astoria was sure she saw a smile creeping upon her lover's face, as Millicent turned away to pull back the curtain leading to the storeroom.

Chill air blew in from a crack beneath the window, and it made Astoria shiver as she shed her robes, revealing the pale, smooth skin of a proper Pureblood girl, who didn't spend much time out in the sun. Proper Pureblood girls took care to mind their complexion, so as to impress their future Pureblood husbands. Astoria had been pressured from a very young age to follow all the proper Pureblood traditions: music tutoring and etiquette lessons and beauty potions and staying out of the sun. She knew it all. Daphne had been there to push her when their mother wasn't around, during the long hours of studying in the Slytherin common room at Hogwarts. Daphne was probably worrying about her younger sister at that very moment. But Astoria didn't want to think about Daphne.

Millicent was not pale and smooth. Her skin was marred with scars, and dark from long hours spent outdoors, toiling in the dirt for her potions ingredients. Millicent did not remove her robes right away; she took her time staring at Astoria first, taking in the sight of her standing bare in her dim storeroom. "You're so pretty, Astoria," Millicent said, with a crooked smile. "You're like a little flower. And here I am yanking you out the dirt like a common weed."

"No," said Astoria, coming closer, and placing her cool palm on Millicent's warm cheek. "I want to be here. You know that."

Millicent grinned, and placed her hand over Astoria's. "I know you do, love," she said. "But it baffles the hell out of me every time."

Words were not enough to express what Astoria felt, her heart raging fit to burst in her chest, and so she merely swept forward and pressed her lips to Millicent's skin, her kisses landing on hard brow and chapped lips. Millicent was quick to respond, as always, and she enveloped Astoria, her arms big and warm and surrounding Astoria like a thick blanket.

There was a small cot in the back corner of the storeroom, which Millicent had procured after the first of their trysts in the shop, after Astoria had complained of being pushed up against the cold, rough stone of the wall. It wouldn't do, after all, for a proper Pureblood lady to come home with bloody scrapes down her back. And so there was the bed, which was thin and rickety, but served their purpose.

Golden blonde curls fanned across the deep brown stains on the pillowcase, as Astoria lay her head back and looked down upon her Millicent. "I love you," she said, breathless, as Millicent kissed between her legs with gentle reverence.

Millicent had strong hands, and they held Astoria's thighs back as Astoria desperately struggled and squirmed under the painful pleasure of Millicent's lips and tongue on her skin. It was heat and vibration and sharp piercing joy, thrumming through Astoria's blood like music. She cried out under the frustration of ecstasy, her hips attempting to buck off the bed but kept still by Millicent's hold. Her lips kissed and suckled greedily as Astoria felt her orgasm bursting inside of her, like a magical spell flowing from head to toe in a rush of exhilarated pleasure.

She screamed as she came over the edge, her eyes squeezed shut as Millicent slipped her tongue over her clit and pushed against it, held there whilst Astoria rode the wave. Astoria cried out, and Millicent kept silent, even after it was done, and Astoria had slunk back against the far wall, bringing her knees to her chest and placing her head upon them, looking over at Millicent with a sort of childish embarrassment. Astoria wasn't used to letting go so fully; not yet. A proper Pureblood lady did not scream.

"Thank you," Astoria said quietly, with a shy smile, and she slowly stretched her legs out, prodding Millicent with her carefully painted toenails, small and pink and clean. Millicent laid her head on her arms at the edge of the bed, and they stayed that way for a moment, each lost in her own thoughts, and just enjoying each other's presence. It was nice, not to be alone for a bit. It was comforting.

"Shop's opening soon," Millicent said eventually, shifting away, and stretching as she stood. Astoria watched her, hesitant to move, hesitant to leave the hazy fog of contentment she was in, sitting there on the little cot in a potions storeroom. The wall across from her was filled with little glass vials filled with odd-looking plants and things Astoria couldn't even identify.

"Must I leave so soon?" Astoria asked. "We've barely had any time together today."

Millicent shrugged. "Got a business to run, love. Some of us have to earn our keep."

Shame swept over Astoria. She knew nothing about earning one's keep, having the Greengrass fortune to keep her going until she was married off to the highest bidder. And then she'd have some other Pureblood manor to laze about in. It didn't make sense to her, that she should be so sheltered and rich while Millicent had to operate a run-down apothecary in the darkest part of the world. Millicent had blood as pure as Astoria's; their fortunes should be the same. But the Bulstrode family hadn't done very well in the war, and they were paying for it now. It wasn't fair.

"I don't like this place," Astoria said, as she scooped her white robes off the floor and gingerly dressed herself. Millicent helped her fasten the robes up, her fingers slightly clumsy with the clasp. "You oughtn't sell things to such frightening people. Who knows what they're doing with them."

"They're doing whatever they must," Millicent replied, her voice sharp. "As I do what I must." She gave Astoria a stern look.

Astoria looked up into Millicent's eyes and kissed her, wishing to pour all of the sweetness she could into the contact. She hoped Millicent could feel it; the smile on her face made Astoria dizzy with joy. "I know you do what you have to do," Astoria said quietly, with her arms around Millicent's waist. "I just wish you could come and be with me always. We don't have to listen to my family; we could be together."

A harsh laugh escaped Millicent's lips. "You have no idea what that would be like," she said. "Little girls shouldn't let beasts into their houses." She grinned, showing her teeth.

"But you aren't a beast," Astoria said fiercely. "And I'm not a little girl."

Millicent's teeth were sharp when they nipped at Astoria's neck, but Astoria didn't mind; it sent a jolt of fizzing pleasure down her spine. "I'm happy just to have you at all for the moment. Some day you'll realize how horrible I am, and you'll marry the more proper sort. I'll have my shop for refuge then."

"Oh, never, never," Astoria cried, peppering Millicent's face with kisses. "Don't you see how you are such a comfort to me, Millie?"

"I've told you not to call me that," Millicent replied, extricating herself from Astoria's grasp. "Now get back to your sister, and let me open my shop. I'll see you again soon enough."

"All right," Astoria said, and smoothed her hair down before she left.

She stepped carefully out of the shop and down the alley, so as not to get her shoes dirty. She felt like she were stepping out into an entirely different universe when she left; the sunlight in Diagon Alley was blinding. Daphne was right where Astoria had left her, having her measurements taken in Madam Malkin's robe shop, and choosing fabrics for her wedding gown.

"Haven't you gotten this done yet?" Astoria asked incredulously, as she walked into the shop and saw her sister standing in a pile of discarded robes.

"Nothing is working," Daphne cried despondently, and ran her hands through her hair, which was as blonde as Astoria's but straighter, and at the moment messier, which seemed funny to Astoria after what she had just been doing with her own hair, thrashing about on a little cot in a storeroom. "I'm sorry, Madam, but I'm going to have to leave and try again another time. I just can't decide at the moment."

Madam Malkin looked frazzled. "As you wish, dear," she said briskly. Astoria got the feeling the dressmaker was happy to see the sisters go.

Heels clicked loudly on the cobblestones as Astoria walked quickly, to keep pace with Daphne. "I'm beginning to think you don't want to be married, Daph," she said brightly, grinning, happy in the sunlight with her sister and her memory of Millicent.

Daphne stopped short in the street and glared at Astoria. "You mustn't say things like that in public," she said, her tone scolding.

"Because you don't," Astoria said, stunned by the revelation. She had always imagined Daphne as the perfect Pureblooded woman, serene and aristocratic and happy to play the game. Daphne was a marvelous actress, much better than Astoria could ever hope to be. The Greengrass parents already had their suspicions about their younger daughter, whilst Daphne stayed safely in the light.

"Of course I don't," Daphne replied quietly, surreptitiously pinching Astoria's arm. "Who would? Give up my freedom to be shackled to some man I hardly know, and be expected to produce heirs immediately? It's humiliating."

Astoria nodded her head, and gazed intently at Daphne. "Then don't do it," she whispered. "I refuse to do it, and you must, too."

An expression of such sorrow flitted across Daphne's face, so that Astoria felt her own heart breaking with sympathy. "I can't, Tori," she said, using her old childhood nickname, and making Astoria feel the pulling of time, the innocence shattered by unfair traditions and the inevitability of growing older. "It's just something we both have to do."

"Well, I won't," Astoria said, jutting her chin out. She insisted so loudly on being treated as an adult, but still she clung to this last childlike thing, her stubborn insistence on going against the grain, on rebelling. "I'll never marry a man."

Daphne raised one perfectly-sculpted eyebrow and stared at her sister for a moment, before shaking her head and taking Astoria by the hand. "Come on," she said, and began to move again, towing Astoria along. "We have to be home."

As the Greengrass girls hurried along towards the Leaky Cauldron, Astoria turned her head to look at the junction of light and dark, the place where Knockturn Alley broke away from Diagon. Millicent was down there somewhere, making her trade, surviving on her own while Astoria attempted rebellion whilst taking refuge under her parents' roof. It wasn't fair at all, and sometime soon she'd escape, she'd run to her Millie and take her comfort there.

Marriage was in the cards for every good little Pureblood girl, and Astoria could not help but to be good, despite anything she claimed to the contrary. She knew it in her darkest thoughts, but she knew just as strongly that she would never give up Millicent, the strong, brave, confident woman who made Astoria feel warm and safe and loved. And Astoria would not give that up for anything, no matter what she had to do to keep it.


End file.
